Literary Musings
This is where you'll find thoughts on what I'm reading, dispatches from literary events and author talks, and reflections on the world of books and the people who make them.
BOOK REVIEW: UNDER WATER By Tara Menon (Summit Books, 2026)
BOOK REVIEW: UNDER WATER By Tara Menon (Summit Books, 2026)
Tara Menon's debut novel, Under Water, is a haunting story of loss, the fragility of friendship, and the destructive relationship between humans and nature.
BOOK REVIEW: THE CORRESPONDENT By Virginia Evans (Penguin, 2025)
BOOK REVIEW: THE CORRESPONDENT BY Virginia Evans (Penguin, 2025)
The winner of the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction is THE CORRESPONDENT by Virginia Evans. It's an epistolary novel, told in a series of letters, emails, and messages, narrated by Sybil Van Antwerp, a 73-year-old woman.
BOOK REVIEW: LONDON FALLING By Patrick Radden Keefe (Picador 2026)
BOOK REVIEW: LONDON FALLING By Patrick Radden Keefe (Picador, 2025)
It's rare for me to pick up a book of non-fiction that has nothing to do with literature, past or present. But Patrick Radden Keefe's LONDON FALLING has been the book that everyone has been talking about in London these past few months.
BOOK REVIEW: THE HOUNDING By Xenobe Purvis (Hutchinson Heinemann 2025)
BOOK REVIEW: THE HOUNDING By Xenobe Purvis (Hutchinson Heinemann, 2025)
Xenobe Purvis's debut novel THE HOUNDING is set in the eighteenth century in the village of Little Nettlebed, Oxfordshire. It's the story of the five Mansfield sisters over the course of a hot, uncomfortable summer.
Cinema: Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ August 2026
CINEMA: Christopher Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY (August 2026)
‘This summer's big movie is Christopher Nolan's THE ODYSSEY. A director who doesn't cut corners or time, Nolan is known for works like OPPENHEIMER, from a few summers ago, and INCEPTION. THE ODYSSEY did not arrive without the usual Nolan hype, both good and bad.
THEATRE: ELECTRA/PERSONA:A New Play by Benedict Andrews After Sophocles and Ingmar Bergaman
THEATRE: ELECTRA/PERSONA A New Play by Benedict Andrews After Sophocles and Ingmar Bergaman (National Theatre, August-October 2026)
‘It has been a summer of Greek tragedy, first with Christopher Nolan's much-hyped film Odysseus, and now with the opening of a run of a new play by Benedict Andrews, Electra/Persona, at the National Theatre.
BOOK REVIEW: MAY WE FEED THE KING By Rebecca Perry (Granta, 2026)
BOOK REVIEW: MAY WE FEED THE KING By Rebecca Perry (GRANTA, 2026)
‘Listen for everything and above all, pay attention,’ is what the curator of the palace of a forgotten king says as they allow the expectant audience through the door. Rebecca Perry's debut novel MAY WE FEED THE KING is definitely a book in which we need to pay attention.
BOOK REVIEW: THE PALM HOUSE By Gwendoline Riley (London, Picador, 2026)
BOOK REVIEW: THE PALM HOUSE By Gwendoline Riley (Picador, 2026)
Every so often I come across a writer whose writing leaves me thinking, wanting more of the writing that lends itself to making the ordinary extraordinary. Gwendoline Riley is one such writer.
BOOK REVIEW: MOTHER MARY COMES TO ME By Arundhati Roy (London, Penguin, Hamish Hamilton, 2025)
BOOK REVIEW: MOTHER MARY COMES TO ME By Arundhati Roy (Penguin, 2025)
Arundhati Roy's memoir MOTHER MARY COMES TO ME is an intimate account of a daughter's grief at losing her mother. Written with both clarity and intensity, the memoir reflects on the turbulent mother-daughter relationship Roy shared with her single mother, Mary Roy.
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August 2025
BOOK REVIEW: THIS DARK NIGHT: The Life of Emily Brontë By Deborah Lutz (London, Bloomsbury, 2026)
BOOK REVIEW: THIS DARK NIGHT: The Life of Emily Brontë By Deborah Lutz (London, Bloomsbury, 2026)
What was the real Emily Brontë like? For years her only novel WUTHERING HEIGHTS has kept writers and academics wondering about the real mind behind this much-loved classic by one of Britain’s most famous literary stars.
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August 2025
A LITERARY PILGRIMAGE: Visiting Jane Austen’s House in Chawton
A LITERARY PILGRIMAGE: VISITING JANE AUSTEN’S HOUSE IN CHAWTON (August 2025)
An inspirational trip to visit Jane Austen’ House in Chawton Village, Hampshire where she wrote and published all her novels.
Author Event at The London Library: ‘Under The Covers’ An evening with David Nicholls & Mel Giedroyc
AUTHOR EVENT: ‘Under the Covers’ at the London Library
Once again in the wonderful Reading Room of the London Library, this time to attend a regular event called 'Under the Covers’.
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25 November 2025
Author Event at The London Library with Frances Wilson & Chris John Power
AUTHOR EVENT: AN EVENING WITH CHRIS JOHN POWER & FRANCIS WILSON
This was a special evening at the London Library. Short story writer Chris John Power hosted and interviewed critic and author Frances Wilson.
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8 October 2025
Literary Musings
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